49^th World Congress on Microbiology June 15-16, 2020 London, UK

This track focuses on the Spectrum of Fungi that infects Humans. In previously healthy individuals, invasive fungal disease is rare because animals’ sophisticated immune systems evolved in constant response to fungal challenges. In contrast, fungal diseases occur frequently in immunocompromised patients. Paradoxically, successes of modern medicine have put increasing numbers of patients at risk for invasive fungal infections.

Mycology, Fungal Pathogens and Associated Diseases includes

• Fungal evolution, phylogenetics, genomics, development, and pathogenesis
• Antifungal Immunity 
• Fungi that infect healthy Humans, Entomophthoromycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.
• Fungi that infect Immunocompromised humans Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mucorales
• Non-Fumigatus Aspergilli, Fusarium, Pseudoallescheria, and Other Opportunistic Ascomycetous Fungal Pathogens

Virology, a subfield of microbiology or of medicine covering all aspects of new and reemerging viruses that cause severe and/or lethal diseases in humans and animals. Examples of these viruses include filoviruses (Ebola, Marburg), henipaviruses (Nipah, Hendra), Lassa virus, Lujo virus, South American hemorrhagic fever viruses (Junin, Machupo, Guanarito, Chapare, Sabia), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Rift Valley fever virus, hantaviruses, SARS coronavirus, MERS coronavirus, tick-borne encephalitis viruses, and Zika virus.

Virology, Viral Pathogens and Associated Diseases includes

• Virology, Metabolism and Genetics
• Viral diseases and host defences
• Mechanisms of Virus entry, Assembly, Protein Translation, Transcription and Replication, Pathogenesis
• Preventive vaccines and Antiviral drugs
• Molecular biology research and Viral therapy
• Applications of Virus

The current researches and future trends in Phycology, Nematology & Protozoology are highlighted in this track.

The track explores the etiologic agents of human disease belonging to the animal kingdom: protozoa, helminths (worms), and arthropods (insects and spiders), all of which are a significant cause of, or link to illness encountered both in tropical and temperate environments. In addition, it also deals with the clinical diseases they cause, their modes of acquisition, transmission and epidemiology, and their pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Medical Parasitology includes

• Parasites, Parasitism, and Host Relations
• Lumen-Dwelling Protozoa
• Malaria
• Other Blood- and Tissue-Dwelling Protozoa & The Blood- and Tissue-Dwelling Nematodes
• The Trematodes, The Cestodes, The Intestinal Nematodes
• Arthropods and Human Disease
• Immunodiagnostic Techniques

Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance (AAR) will cover a range of important topics. One of the major challenges today is the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance, with the emergence of "untreatable" microbes causing diseases that were once readily treatable. The AAR track is the best place to find information regarding new antimicrobial agent discovery, preclinical investigations of new antimicrobial drugs in the pipeline, and first-look data of human clinical trials using new antimicrobial agents.

Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance includes

• Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance: Molecular Typing, Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology
• Antimicrobial Agents: Mechanisms of Action and Mechanisms of Resistance
• Antifungal Agents and Resistance
• Antimicrobial Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and General Pharmacology
• Antimicrobial Stewardship, including Quality of Care
• Antiviral Agents (including HIV Drugs) and Resistance
• Experimental Therapeutics
• New Antimicrobial Agents (Pre-US IND or Prior to the Start of Clinical Therapeutic Studies/pre-Phase 2) and New Research Technologies
• Pharmacological Studies of Antimicrobial Agents Pre-NDA (Phase 2/3)

Clinical Infections and Vaccines (CIV)  will cover a range of important topics relevant to Infectious diseases and their impact on human health. The latest information on common healthcare-associated infections, such as Clostridium difficile, Pneumonia, and complicated urinary tract infections and others will be featured in this track. The science in this track works to bring together angstrom-level discovery and clinical research to reduce the burden of infectious diseases around the globe. 

Clinical Infections and Vaccines includes

• Clinical Studies of Adult Infectious Diseases, including Clinical Trials and Diseases caused by Bacteria, Viruses, Fungi, Prions or Parasites
• Infection Prevention and Control: Healthcare-associated and Surgical Infections and Clinical Epidemiology
• Global Health
• Transplant Infectious Diseases
• Pediatric Infectious Diseases
• Vaccines and Immunization Science

Clinical and Public Health Microbiology (CPHM) has always been well-represented at Microbiology Conferences, Meetings and will continue to be so at Microbiology 2020. Thorough coverage of the science of antibiotic susceptibility testing: new protocols, new drug panels, new drugs in the pipeline, and new organisms to test are among the most important part of the track. Sessions in this track will also deep dive into testing and treatment of all clinically important microbe with growing incidence.

Clinical and Public Health Microbiology includes

• Administering the Clinical/Public Health Microbiology Laboratory
• Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
• Diagnostic Bacteriology, Diagnostic Mycobacteriology, Diagnostic Mycology, Diagnostic Parasitology, Diagnostic Virology
• Diagnostic Immunology
• Diagnostic Public Health Microbiology
• Diagnostic Veterinary Microbiology
• Laboratory Safety, Security, and Biodefense
• Molecular Diagnostic Microbiology
• Laboratory Informatics Practical Tools for Bench Technologists

Applied and Environmental Science (AES) is well-covered in the program of Microbiology 2020. The most exciting findings in this field in the last few years will be presented including recent, game-changing discoveries of microbial players and physiologies in the major Biogeochemical Cycles, Microbial Interactions, Electromicrobiology and Syntheticmicrobiology.

Applied and Environmental Science includes

• Aero microbiology
• Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment
• Biofilms in Applied and Environmental Science
• Biofuels and Bioproducts
• Electro microbiology
• Genetic and Metabolic Functions in Environmentally Relevant Microbes
• Microbiology of the Built Environment
• New Microbial Processes for Resource Recovery, Carbon Capture and Resource Efficiency
• Detecting, Characterization, and Source-tracking of Environmental Microbes
• Synthetic Biology
• Geomicrobiology

This track focuses on cell structure and synthesis of cell components followed by detailed discussions of genetics, metabolism, growth, and regulation and mechanisms underlying cell survival and growth. This approaches the subject from a modern molecular genetic perspective, incorporating new insights gained from various genome projects.

Microbial Cytology, Microbial Physiology & Recombination DNAincludes

• Macromolecular Synthesis and Processing: DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis
• Bacterial Genetics: DNA Exchange, Recombination, Mutagenesis and Repair
• Microbial Physiology in the Genomic ERA: A Revolutionary Tale
• Regulation of Prokaryotic Gene Expression
• Bacteriophage Genetics
• Central Pathways of Carbohydrate Metabolism
• Energy Production and Metabolite Transport
• Metabolism of Substrates Other than Glucose
• Fermentation Pathways
• Photosynthesis and Inorganic Metabolism
• Lipids and Sterols & Nitrogen Metabolism
• Biosynthesis and Metabolism of Amino Acids
• Host-Parasite Interactions

Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, formerly the Microbial Ecology and Evolution track encompasses many aspects of microbial and phage ecology and the roles of microbes in their natural environments. Our rapidly advancing knowledge of the complexity, immense diversity, and important roles of natural microbial communities will be highlighted in many of the exciting EEB sessions.

Microbial Ecology and Evolution includes

• Biofilms in Ecological and Evolutionary Science
• Biogeochemical Processes and Systems Biology
• Climate Change and Microbes
• Comparative and Evolutionary Genomics
• Ecology and Evolution of Viruses and Phage
• Ecological and Evolutionary Modeling and Theory
• 'omics to Study Ecosystem Function
• Patterns, Mechanisms and Experimental Approaches in Molecular Evolution
• Polymicrobial Interactions of Ecological or Evolutionary Significance
• Systems Biology
• Unusual Microbes and Extreme Environments

Molecular microbiology is a rapidly expanding area of contemporary science: the application of molecular biology has opened the microbial world in many remarkable ways. The attraction of microbes is that they are self-contained and that they offer complete solutions to understanding the phenomenon of life.

Molecular Microbiology includes

• Bacterial Biochemistry
• Bacterial Genomes
• Gene Expression
• Microbial Cell Biology

The focus is the host cell responses elicited by the interaction of micro-organisms. Equal emphasis is placed on responses to prokaryotic, viral and eukaryotic micro-organisms. In addition to mammalian systems, papers addressing other hosts such as plants and insects are strongly encourage. Systems biology is a rapidly expanding discipline fueled by the 'omics era and new technological advances that have increased the precision of data obtainable.

Cellular Microbiology & Systems Microbiology includes

• Exploitation of host cell structure
• Modification of cell signaling pathways
• Molecular responses of the host cell
• Responses of tissues and whole organs
• Systemic effects elicited by micro-organisms
• Induction of immune response
• Modulation and exploitation of immune response
• Remodeling of tissues
• Co-pathogen interactions
• Case studies on single microbial species of Bacteria and Archaea
• Mathematical models for systems biology
• Systems biology of Escherichia coli metabolism
• Bacterial Chemotaxis
• Systems biology of Infection
• Host-microbe interactions, Phagocytosis
• System-level study of metabolism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Systems biology of Sulfolobus.

Industrial microbiology is primarily associated with the commercial exploitation of microorganisms and involves processes and products that are of major economic, environmental and gregarious consequentiality throughout the world.

Industrial Microbiology, Microbial Biotechnology and Future Bioindustries includes

• Industrial Processes end products
• Bioprocess Engineering and Systems Biology
• Micro factories-Microbial Production of Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals
• Biosurfactants: Purification, Mass Production, Applications
• Biotechnologically relevant Enzymes and Proteins
• Fermentation and Biotransformation
• Quantitative Models and Bioinformatics in Microbiology
• Bioremediation, Biodegradation, Biofouling and Biocorrosion
• Application of -Omics Technologies in Microbial Fermentation
• Applications of Bioinformatics and Biocomputing to Microbiological Research
• Municipal Wastewater Treatment, Industrial Wastewater Treatment and Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Treatment

Exciting developments in Food Microbiology has been the availability and application of molecular analyses that have allowed scientists to address microbial food safety questions beyond merely determining whether particular pathogens are in a food. Such global analyses are allowing scientists to ask deeper questions regarding food-borne pathogens and are currently leading the way to ascertaining the genes, proteins, networks, and cellular mechanisms that determine the persistence of strains in foods and other environments, determine why certain strains are more commonly isolated from foods, and determine why certain strains are more pathogenic. Such molecular tools are also making it possible to more fully determine the microflora present in foods along with pathogens, and to assess the effect that the food microbiota has on the death, survival, and pathogenicity of food borne pathogens.

Food Microbiology includes

• Microbiology of Food, including Spoilage, Fermentation and Probiotics
• Foodborne Pathogens: Microbiology and Molecular Biology
• Bacillus cereus, Clostridium, Shigella, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio spp., Yersinia enterocolitica

The track is organized into three thematic sessions: Soil Microbiology, Water Microbiology, and Environmental Biotechnology. The first sessions includes researches on soil as a habitat for microorganisms, and introduces the main types of soil microorganisms, how they interact with the soil, and the techniques used in their analysis. In the second section includes Freshwater, Wastewater, and Drinking Water Microbiology and assays of microbial pathogens-bacteria, viruses, and protozoan parasites which are used in food and water quality control as well as an exercise in applied bioremediation of contaminants in water. Environmental Microbiology also includes the study of microorganisms that exist in artificial environments such as bioreactors.

We are in the era of speed and precision. Like many other disciplines in environmental biology, aquatic microbiology tends to move forward with new rapid and cutting edge tools to study water-related microorganisms from river banks to the abyss of the oceans. These innovations help to resolve the issues with determining the risks associated with climate change, human activities as well as the interactions between species to redefine what a healthy water environment is for all living organisms sharing these environments.

Aquatic and Marine Microbiology includes

•  Aquatic Microorganisms
• Techniques for the Study of Aquatic Microorganisms
• Distribution of Microorganisms in the Aquatic Environment
• The Role and Importance of Aquatic Microbial Ecosystems
• Productivity of Aquatic Ecosystems
• Biogeochemical Transformations
• Bacterial indication of water pollution
• Inorganic nitrogen assimilation in aquatic microorganisms
• Protozoan predation in batch and continuous culture
• Methods in sediment microbiology
• Freshwater, Wastewater, Drinking Water and Marine Microbiology 

Containing the latest information on  Pathogenesis and Diagnosis, Veterinary Microbiology addresses both specific, defined problems, as well as trends in host/parasite interaction. This session is a complete reference on microbial biology, diseases, diagnosis, prevention, and control. Also, foundation of knowledge on pathogens and how they interact with hosts.

Veterinary Microbiology includes

• Veterinary Mycology
• Veterinary Bacteriology

Plant Pathology outlines how to recognize, treat, and prevent plant diseases. It covers the wide spectrum of abiotic, fungal, viral, bacterial, nematode and other plant diseases and their associated epidemiology. It also covers the genetics of resistance and modern management on plant disease.

Plant Pathology and Microbiology includes

• Parasitism and Disease Development
• Effects of pathogens on plant physiological functions
• Genetics of plant disease
• How pathogens attack plants And How plants defend themselves against pathogens
• Plant Diseases caused by Fungi, Prokaryotes, Viruses, Nematodes, Flagellate Protozoa, Parasitic Higher Plants, Invasive higher plants, and Parasitic green plants
• Control of plant diseases

Agricultural Microbiology covers topics related to the role of microorganisms in the mobilization of nutrients for plant growth such as the relationship of microbial genetics and biological nitrogen; plant surface microflora and plant nutrition; developments in grass-bacteria associations; discusses the use of microorganisms in the management of pathogens, pests, and weeds and includes topics such as the microbial control of insect pests; microbial herbicides; and agricultural antibiotics. It also strategies in bioconversion such as the production of biogas from agricultural wastes; bioconversion of lignocelluloses into protein-rich food and feed; and ethanol fuel from biomass.

The Profession of Microbiology (POM) track is everybody's track. No matter what area of microbiology you work in and what stage in your career you're at, the topics covered in POM are things you can use right away in your own practice, from improving your communication and teaching skills to getting out in the community and being an advocate for the microbial sciences!